Feeding Frenzy

Chapter 24

Evey had asked Ford twice if she could drive, but he refused to let her get behind the wheel. Unaware of her history of speeding tickets, he thought that she would be incapable of keeping up with the other trucks.

Evey crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the seat. She was staring out the window at the abandoned cars and the odd dead body lying on the ground. The truck was silent. Evey had always crafted playlists for road trips. Now, she was forced into silence with her family's screams ringing in her ears.

The twins had fallen asleep an hour ago. Evey would turn and look into the backseat to ensure that they were alright. She noticed that Ford was sneaking glances in the rearview mirror to look at the kids.

The radio would crackle before one of the soldiers' voices would speak. Johnson would give them directions as his truck was leading their pack.

The radio crackled and then there was a string of curse words. Evey's heart pounded as she pushed herself up in her seat. Her hand hovered over the gun on her thigh. Was there a group of hungry Infected?

The road leading to the bridge was blocked by a wall of abandoned cars. They crashed into each other and the cars were a mess of crumpled metal and shattered windows. Beyond that, there was a semi-truck that was tipped over. The truck was jack-knifed across the bridge, blocking their path to the other side.

Johnson got out of his truck, and Harrington and Gomez followed. Ford turned off the truck and looked at Evey.

"Stay here," he said.

He got out of the truck and rushed toward the others. Fiona and Anjo climbed out of Johnson's truck. Fiona looked at the scene before heading over to Ford's truck. Evey opened her door and stepped out.

"Can you keep an eye on Joey and Josie?" Evey asked Fiona. "They're asleep."

"Of course," she said.

Evey hurried over to where the soldiers had gone. They were on the opposite side of the wreck of cars. Evey climbed over the cars and was careful not to cut herself on any of the broken glass. She cringed when she saw a dead body slumped against the steering wheel of one of the cars.

The soldiers were all staring at the semi-truck. The glass crunched under Evey's feet as she landed back on the ground. Ford looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. Johnson, Harrington, and Gomez were unphased as Evey joined them.

"You don't listen," Ford said. "The kids?"

"Fiona is with them," Evey said.

Gomez let out a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He shook his head as he swore.

"I told you this was pointless," he said. "We've been on the road for less than a day and we're already stuck."

"We just need to get to the other side of this truck," Evey said.

Gomez pointed his finger at Evey.

"This is all your fault," he said.

"Me?" she asked. "I am not the one who flipped over this truck."

"But you-" he started.

"Shut the fuck up," Ford snapped. "Leave her alone."

Evey put her hand on Ford's arm. He was tense and she looked down to see his hands were balled into fists.

"We can climb over this truck and take a car on the other side," Evey said. "We have to keep heading to Toronto."

"It's not a bad idea," Harrington said. "I know I was running low on gas anyways."